Shopping carts found in retail establishments generally include a child seat that is part of the rear panel of the shopping cart basket. A back support panel is attached to the rear panel, usually on the inside of the basket, thereby reducing the carrying capacity of the shopping cart. A fold down seat portion traverses the back support panel and the rear panel to form the child set proximate the upper portion of the rear panel. Generally, the child seat is arranged so that the child's legs extend through openings in the back panel. Airport luggage carts have a similar child seat arrangement. However, luggage carts weigh less than a shopping cart and are therefore more prone to tip over.
The child seats on shopping or luggage carts only have room for one child. Also, once a child reaches approximately 35 pounds, or is more than approximately 54" tall, the child seat on these carts starts to be too small and uncomfortable for the child. Additionally, children older than approximately 3 years find these seats confining and often attempt to climb out. Consequently, it is very common to see children riding in the basket portion of the shopping cart or standing on the front edge of the lower frame while gripping onto the basket portion, or standing on the luggage portion of a luggage cart.
Allowing a child to ride in the basket portion of the shopping cart has proven to be extremely dangerous. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 12,000 hospital emergency room head injuries in 1988 along, to children under 5 years of age primarily due to children falling from shopping carts. Approximately one third of these head injuries were concussions, fractures or internal injuries. (See Consumer Product Safety Alert from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, March 1990, which is hereby incorporated by reference.) In 1992, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that 22,920 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to shopping carts.
While old style shopping carts were constructed of metal, newer carts are utilizing more plastic parts, including plastic basket portions. Consequently, the center of gravity of newer shopping carts is much lower than the old style metal carts. Since the child seat is generally on the upper portion of the rear panel of the basket portion, a larger child will significantly alter the center of gravity of the cart, especially when the cart is empty. The reported accidents also include injuries resulting from children tipping over the cart by rocking back and forth.
There are presently millions of conventional shopping and luggage carts in use. A shopping cart costs anywhere from $70.00 to $120.00. An economically viable solution to child injuries needs to utilize the existing inventory of carts, without significantly reducing the overall functionality of the carts. For example, the solution can not dramatically change the dimensions of the cart. One approach is to provide a safety strap to retain the child in the cart seat. However, this approach does not address larger children who do not fit properly into the cart seat or parents that have more than one small child.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,250 issued to Dykes and U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,840 issued to Keller disclose motorized attachments for shopping carts. However, the motorized units are intended for disabled individuals, not children. Additionally, the motorized units would be cost prohibitive for a broad base solution to the wide spread problem of child injuries relating to shopping carts. Additionally, both of the above patents disclose an articulated or pivotal joint between the carrier and the shopping cart which requires the passenger to steer the cart, a design totally impractical for a child passenger.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,801 issued to Vicany discloses an occupant propelled shopping cart. However, the occupant portion is integrally formed with the cart and does not present a viable option for use with the millions of shopping carts in existence.
Therefore, a child carrier accessory is needed for use with existing shopping and airport luggage carts that will allow more than one child, or larger children, to be carried safely without reducing the overall functionality of the cart.